GMAT Critical Reasoning

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A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool Company has recently claimed that the company is mismanaged. As evidence for this claim, the investor cited the company's failure to slow production in response to a recent rise in its inventory of finished products. It is doubtful whether an investor's sniping at management can ever be anything other than counterproductive, but in this case it is clearly not justified. It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand. In Burton's case it indicates no such thing, however: the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers.

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

A The first provides evidence to support the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states that conclusion.

B The first states the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support that conclusion.

C The first is the position that the argument as a whole opposes; the second provides evidence against the position being opposed.

D The first states an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states the conclusion of the argument as a whole.

E The first and the second both state intermediate conclusions that are drawn in order to support jointly the conclusion of the argument as a whole.